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Leigh Erwin: Beginner Winemaker: Wine Filter Systems

Here I am, still in the holding pattern while I wait for my mead to do its secondary fermentation thing!

If you remember last time, I did some preliminary research on sweetening my mead once secondary fermentation was complete, and I had asked your opinions and advice on what you think I should do that might be different from what I already found. Please feel free to continue sharing your thoughts, as it’ll not only help me, but will help others trying to figure out how to sweeten their mead wine as well.

Since I’m still in research mode, I figured today I’d chat a little bit about another thing I’ve been pondering related to my home winemaking practice: wine filter systems. If you’ve read any of my previous entries, you know I’ve been back and forth with the idea of getting a filter for my wine. My biggest problem right now has to do with space, and the fact that we will likely be moving into a new home by the end of the year and that would be one more thing I’d have to pack up and haul.

I think today would be a good time to actually sit down and see what wine filter systems are available, so I can decide if it’s really that big of a deal to get one now or not, or if I really should wait until after my life has settled down a little bit in terms of where I’ll be living.

OK, so checking out the ECKraus website, it looks like there are about 4 different options:

Pressurized Wine Filter System: Great for filtering 5 to 10 gallons of wine at a time. This is a manual filtering system, and from the picture looks to be pretty easy to pack up and move whenever that happens for me.

Buon Vino Mini Jet Wine Filter System: Great for filtering 5 to 20 gallons of wine at a time, but unlike the pressurized wine filter this one is automatic. Just have to turn it on and it goes! This is also pretty small and compact and easy to move around wherever I go.

Vinbrite Wine Filter System: This is the most simple design of the lot. Gravity fed, manual, and good for up to 2 gallons of wine at a time. Super easy to pack up and go.

Buon Vino Super Jet Wine Filter System: This one is the “big boy” of wine filters. Filters up to 60 gallons per hour, non-stop. Much larger and higher capacity than the three others. Excellent for someone who is making a lot more wine than I am right now.

Based on the variety of options here, I really have no choice. Looks like I’ll be getting either the Pressurized Wine Filter System or the Vinbrite Wine Filter System. If I wish to increase my output in the near future, it might be better to go with the Pressurized Wine Filter, since it can handle more wine than the Vinbrite Wine Filter. I’ll give it a little thought and will report back on what I end up getting!

————————————————————————————————————-My name is Leigh Erwin, and I am a brand-spankin’ new home winemaker! E. C. Kraus has asked me to share with you my journey from a first-time dabbler to an accomplished home winemaker. From time to time I’ll be checking in with this blog and reporting my experience with you: the good, bad — and the ugly.

9 thoughts on “Leigh Erwin: Beginner Winemaker: Wine Filter Systems”

Sounds a little stupid but here goes.When you say take gravity readings of your juice before and after, if your using a kit that makes five gallons do you add the water and take your gravity reading or do you take it of juice only ??

Ralph, the beginning gravity reading that you take with a hydrometer should be the last thing you do before adding the yeast. In other words, the water and everything else is added before you take a reading with your hydrometer.

Leigh, I agree with Bill regarding the filter because it is also a motorized pump. The pressurized filter requires pouring your wine into the sprayer.
The splashing into the tank and pressurization will add oxygen to the wine. With the vinbrite filter you still need to siphon or pump the wine through it. I purchased the PMP 120 Transfer Pump which is a
great help with the 100 plus gallons we make each year. Like Warren
above, I do not filter our wines but rely on racking to clarify them.
However the pump feature is a tremendous time and labor saver. You can siphon very easily which will further eliminate sediment from your wine. Take Bill’s advice with the mini or super jet, even if you may not need to filter the wine, you can use it to transfer it any time needed. The quality of the equipment will last you a lifetime.

Warrn/Bil/Tejas, thank you for your input. I am planning on using clarifiers as well. I will give this filter system a shoot and see how it goes. I may very well up-grade later, or quit filter all together. It’s still a learning process for me. Thanks again.

I have one of the pressurized filter systems. I converted it so that I do not need to pour wine into the sprayer. The sprayer now only pumps air. By using two hole carboy caps, I can now pump air into the carboy, pressurizing it so that the wine travels up the racking tube. Using this system, I can rack between carboys on the same level or even if the receiving one is above the sending one. by attaching my filter plates in between the carboys, I can also filter as I rack. Another application is to put a bottling tube just after the filter. Instead of filter/racking between carboys, I can also filter as I bottle.

I have the Buon Vino Mini Filter which does filter and clarify wines well; however, each time I use it the wine being filtered seeps quite a bit between the filter plates and actual filters often filling the drip tray. No matter how tightly/loosely the screws are it still leaks. The wines I filter are not cloudy, do not contain a lot of sediment, etc. Has anyone been cursed with a similar problem ? I’m pretty fastidious about following instructions, etc. but can’t seem to stop the leakage.
Thanks Much for any help.

Dick, you will always have seepage. Even the larger commercial units that use 60, 100 plates or more will seep. Your unit is not seeping because there is something wrong, that’s how it is meant to work.